Free
by dgschneider
Summary: Booth's out of jail, he has his job, his case, badge, gun, squints, and his family back. Everything should be right with the world and yet nothing feels right. These months have taken their toll, changed him. Set during Season 10 premiere Conspiracy in the Corpse


Booth's fingers ran over the lip of the bullet holes that had pierced the shiny metal piece of airplane wing hanging on the wall. Out of jail, he worked the case all day. Bones fed him one squinty report after another, he had his gun, his badge, their stuff all under one roof. This was his life, his home. Everything had the appearance of normalcy but _nothing_ felt normal. He couldn't find his inner balance, hadn't found it all day. He tried routine, walking the house checking doors and windows. It probably would have brought him more peace if it didn't feel so unfamiliar, a maze of windows, halls, and doors.

She found him leaning on the door jam of Christine's room watching her sleep.

"She'll sleep better tonight." She paused, swallowing back her own emotions. "Now that you're home."

A few steps away from him she reached out for his hand. Stepping into her space he took it then reached for the other. "I will too, Booth." He nodded, silently agreeing as she led him down the hall to their bedroom. He should too. They were together again, a family again. He argued with himself, with the part of him that spun like a compass needle unable to find true North.

The farther away they got from Christine's room the louder and faster Bones talked. Strong, confident, emphatic, she was animated as she gave him the final squint update for the night transitioning easily into theorizing on the latest developments in the case. He watched and listened as he found his way around the bathroom. Asked questions as he came out to change. This felt normal.

"I missed you." He blurted.

Touch, they'd been denied the simple familiarity of touch for months, since the FBI pulled her away from his bed in the hospital when he was barely conscious and she still feared for his life. As she pulled the shirt from his beaten and broken body the severity of his suffering revealed itself. The tough purple-ish pink ridges of new scars, the colorful hues of deep bruising weren't unexpected and yet she found them more startling than she anticipated. She wanted nothing more than to touch each wound, examine them for herself, know them like she knew all his others. But it wasn't the time for that, not now, she refrained though her fingers twitched with the need.

He flinched when she kissed him, flinched and pulled away. That's when she could no longer deny the changes she saw in him. It's when the worry burrowed deep into her heart. Angela's words rattled around in her mind, _take what you need_. They bumped against the realization that it wasn't just her that needed this, Booth needed it too whether he knew it or not.

For the last three months he couldn't trust anyone. Being framed by the very organization he loved and served for years had left him with the heavy burden of betrayal. It destroyed something wonderful and pure in him, something she'd always questioned but secretly loved. Suspect of colleagues, even the ones he'd known for years, he now trusted no one. Guards were as dangerous to him as inmates. He had to be aware, alert, all the time. Everyone was an enemy.

Her eyes searched his, knowing, seeing the reassurance he needed. "I won't hurt you." Her touch spoke softly to him. Her kiss was inviting and safe. He let his eyes fall closed and fought to force his body to relax until he found himself chasing her lips as she led them towards the bed needing to reclaim their connection.

"I promise this won't hurt a bit." Speaking softly she looked directly into his worried eyes. The back of his legs hit the bed as her touch and her kisses pulled at him. It had been so long, too long.

"All right." He whispered against her lips unwilling to stray too far away from them. He eased his broken body down onto the bed, their bed. She followed.

There was an anxious desperation in their actions, not smooth and easy like they'd always been. But her eyes sparkled as she crawled onto the bed carefully straddling his body and his heart yearned to find that place again.

Leaning over him, her hair trailed along his skin. He felt the familiar tickle as it danced across him. Gasping, his body jerked from the sudden pain of trying to breathe too deeply the familiar smell that was her. Normal shouldn't be so painful. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. He felt violated, robbed of his life.

She soothed him but didn't withdraw despite her own worry that he wasn't ready for this. To be able to touch him now, to be able to feel his touch, reminded her of their first night together. Nervous, similarly desperate, worried, feeling the threat of losing each other overshadow them. Being unwilling to bend to it any longer, that's where she found herself now, unwilling to give this conspiracy, these people, any more than they'd already taken.

It got easier between them, with each touch, each move, each kiss. His hands traveled down her shoulders then found their way to her waist tucking themselves carefully under her shirt. An uncontrollable sigh of pleasure encouraged him as she moved up allowing his kisses to trail down her neck. It wasn't long before his pain faded behind the pleasure. As she lifted her shirt up her body and over her head his hands followed pressing firmly against her as if she were an apparition that threatened to disappear. He clung to her.

Unable to bare her weight on top of him and certain he couldn't hold himself over her, he pulled her down, rolled them to their sides, and drew her into his arms. The feel of her body next to his, he couldn't let go. Tucking himself into her neck he lodged an anguished confession.

"I missed you." The words felt painfully inadequate. "God, Temperance, I love you so much." She answered with her own deep affections soft and sure. In the dark, bare bodies wrapped around one another, they shared in hushed words secrets no other human would ever hear. This felt right, in fact it was the first thing all day that had felt right. He didn't want to let it go, didn't want this to end. They lingered there until the conversation wandered and hands wandered, until she gently told him it was time, they were ready. Finding himself breathless with anticipation he watched as she rolled him onto his back. She came to tower over him, beautiful, strong, and his.

Eyes darting, hearts pounding as they came together. He was transfixed by her expression, watching without breathing or blinking until the feel of her surrounding him robbed him of all control. His hand pressed firmly into her hips as she started to move, he had to stop her, just for a moment.

"Stop." Begging. "Wait. I just need, I just… just wait." She thought she understood, she knew her own need and the intensity of this feeling. It deserved to be savored. But that wasn't it for him. He needed her to wait, to stop, he needed to feel this because he found home in this moment. He found his anchor. The new walls and windows, the familiar and unfamiliar furniture, the case, the job, he felt so changed by the last three months that he couldn't find himself in any of it. He'd chased it all day, fought to find normal in the mess their lives had become but it wasn't there. It was here. It was in their connection, in her. His eyes were closed. She felt the warmth of his hands as they ran smoothly along her hips, watched him breathe, revelled in the sudden change she felt in him.

Opening his eyes they caught hers just in time to watch in awe as he pushed up into her. Her eyes fell shut, head lolled back, her body arched as her divine hum echoed against the walls of their bedroom. It launched them into a beautifully familiar rhythm. One she didn't want to see end. Reaching for control she fought the tightening that build within her knowing that when she fell he would follow quickly behind her. And so they held on stretching, pushing against the end of something they needed to last just a little bit longer. Until it was a force that overwhelmed them, took them, pulled them under before setting them free to find their way back up to the surface.

There were no words as she slid down next to him in bed. He rolled carefully to his side. She curled her body around his protectively. He leaned back slightly against her. The weight of him felt safe and secure, pinning her to the bed. She would sleep tonight, for the first time in months she could. Her hand ran along the side of his body hitting his hip then curved down along his natural musculature. It came to rest along in the well defined dip that lay there, rubbing gently up and down the slight crevasse. His hand came to rest on hers lightly tracing it's own pattern. Defy the laws of physics Booth had once told her, making love, being one, it's something they shared. Plato's proof, they'd found completeness in one another.

She started to drift, her breath heavy on his back, her limbs heavy. He knew he had to tell her now, it couldn't wait any longer, not one second. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly he gave the night one last confession.

"The nightmares, they're bad." Snuggling in tighter she rolled her head and kissed his shoulder.

"I'm here, Booth." Her warm lips pressed another reassuring kiss against his skin. "I'm right here."

ooooo0ooooo

_Okay...truth...I swore when I watched the Bones Season 10 premier that I was NOT going to write anything based on it. NOT ONE THING...And then it kind of started nagging at me and I batted it away, swatted at it, flat out told it to get lost, then finally gave in with the intention of just writing down a few notes to satisfy that nagging and then leave it be. I am already very much in the middle of a story, Hindsight Being What it is, and didn't want or need any distractions. Well, you can see how well all that worked for me. Somehow this little piece survived (despite the numerous points where I highlighted the whole thing and my finger hovered over the delete key)._

_And now it's up here posted. I still don't know what to think of it, I have no idea if it's done or there's more. If you enjoyed it you should probably thank Snowybones, she stopped me from deleting it in the middle of the night last night and encouraged me to finish it and Craftyjhawk for encouraging words and a quick editing job this morning._

_Good or bad, let me know your thoughts...please...pretty please with a box of Kleenex on top for this weeks episode._

_Thank you for reading_

_DG_


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